1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material and an aseptic bottling system for the aseptic bottling of a liquid material in bottles or similar containers. The present application further relates to the bottling of hygienically and microbiologically sensitive products under sterile air conditions, such as wine, beer or carbonated fruit flavored beverages, for example.
2. Background Information
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine. Upon filling, a closing station closes the filled bottles. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. Bottles may be labeled in a labeling station, the labeling station having a conveyer arrangement to receive bottles and to output bottles. The closing station and the labeling station may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement.
The present application relates to a plant for the aseptic bottling of a liquid in bottles or similar containers. It is frequently necessary to bottle a liquid aseptically, i.e. under clean room conditions (e.g. Clean Room Class 100) in bottles or similar containers, and then to close said bottles or containers under clean room conditions, for example for the bottling of highly perishable beverages such as milk products, juices, or pharmaceutical products etc. The present application further relates to the bottling of hygienically and microbiologically sensitive products under sterile air conditions, such as wine, beer or carbonated fruit flavored beverages, for example.
The prior art describes plants for aseptic bottling that form a clean room or clean room area inside an enclosure which is closed off from the outside and is supplied with filtered, sterile air, and through which a conveyor line for the containers or bottles runs. In a plant of this type, inside the clean room area, a rinser, a filling machine and a capper are provided one after another in the direction of transport. As a rule, this clean room area is surrounded by a security area in which there are, among other things, air locks or pass-throughs for the feed of the empty containers to be filled and for the removal of the filled and capped containers.
Container handling machines include, for example, filling machines, capping machines, rinsers etc. In higher-capacity bottling plants, these machines employ a rotating construction, whereby the handling spaces that hold the containers are located on the periphery of a carousel and carry along the containers in a circulating movement during handling operations.